


The One Where Clint is Tony's Weakness

by JinxQuickfoot



Series: Weaknesses [13]
Category: Iron Man (Movies), The Avengers (Marvel Movies), The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: Angst, Avengers Family, Captives, Ceiling Vent Clint Barton, Clint Barton & Tony Stark Friendship, Clint Barton Is a Good Bro, Deaf Clint Barton, Hostage Situations, Hurt Clint Barton, Hurt Tony Stark, James "Rhodey" Rhodes & Tony Stark Friendship, James "Rhodey" Rhodes is a Good Bro, Kidnapped Tony Stark, Kidnapping, Past Attempted Rape/Non-Con, Protective Clint Barton, Protective James "Rhodey" Rhodes, Protective Tony Stark, Rape/Non-con Elements, Rescue Missions, Team as Family, Tony Stark Feels, Tony Stark Needs a Hug, Whump
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-04-02
Updated: 2020-04-02
Packaged: 2021-02-28 22:20:13
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,372
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23444611
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JinxQuickfoot/pseuds/JinxQuickfoot
Summary: Day 13 of the "Weaknesses" writing challengeThing the first: This can be read on its own, but references events that occurred in "The One Where Tony is Rhodey's Weakness"Thing the second: Some non/con elements and discussion of past non/con elements coming up. If that's not something you need in your life right now, there are going to be 29 other works in this series! You do you, friend.Thing the third: I don't straight out reference Clint being deaf in a lot of these, but I think of him as a deaf character in all the stories in this "Weaknesses" challenge.Come say hi on Tumblr - I take requests!
Relationships: Clint Barton & Tony Stark, James "Rhodey" Rhodes & Tony Stark, Tony Stark & Tiberius Stone
Series: Weaknesses [13]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1672462
Comments: 49
Kudos: 153
Collections: Assassin Twins + Tony, Weaknesses





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Day 13 of the "Weaknesses" writing challenge
> 
> Thing the first: This can be read on its own, but references events that occurred in "The One Where Tony is Rhodey's Weakness"
> 
> Thing the second: Some non/con elements and discussion of past non/con elements coming up. If that's not something you need in your life right now, there are going to be 29 other works in this series! You do you, friend. 
> 
> Thing the third: I don't straight out reference Clint being deaf in a lot of these, but I think of him as a deaf character in all the stories in this "Weaknesses" challenge.
> 
> [Come say hi on Tumblr - I take requests!](https://www.tumblr.com/blog/jinxquickfoot)

Clint Barton liked to get around by ceiling vent.

There were several advantages to this form of travel. It was quicker, stealthier, and allowed him to sneak up on his fellow teammates when they least expected it (except Natasha, who always seemed to know he was coming, no matter how quietly he moved or where he popped out in Avengers Tower). The tie for best scare was currently between making Thor jump so violently he tripped and fell over his own cape, or catching Steve guiltily Googling “Please tell me what rick-rolling is”.

So he expected no different when he dropped into Tony’s workshop late one Tuesday evening, and found the engineer slumped over his desk, no doubt deep in some project Clint hoped was archery related.

Tony jumped as Clint appeared suddenly from the ceiling. Clint grinned at the joke, until he saw Tony’s face, because of all the things he would have expected in the tower that night, Tony’s red-rimmed eyes staring resentfully at him would have been last on the list.

Clint’s grin dropped as he realised the red wasn’t that of Tony’s tired look or Tony’s “I’m-hungover-don’t-talk-to-me” look. This was something new, and something Clint really wasn’t prepared for.

He had gotten to know most of his fellow teammates fairly well over the past few months at the tower. He had been grateful that they had taken Clint's batting for Loki’s side in stride, and had welcomed him with open arms as one of their own. Steve was nothing but polite until he realised Clint wasn’t, and Clint was pleasantly surprised that the captain could hold his own in any round of banter or insults he engaged him in. Thor enthusiastically took on board any and all of Earth’s oddities Clint brought to show him, particularly taking to roombas and the idea of potted plants. Even Bruce, in his reserved, quiet way, had eventually opened up, and would more often than not join in on Clint and Natasha’s movie marathons on the rare occasions when neither one of them was on the clock.

Yes, Clint had bonded with his new teammates. All except Tony. Tony, who was the last one who still called him Barton when they weren’t in the field, who was amiable enough but not willing to stick around for longer than five minutes of conversation he wasn’t interested in. Tony, who certainly wasn’t one to be caught crying alone in his workshop.

There was a horrible pause as Clint and Tony make eye contact.

“That’s it.” Tony quickly closed the file he had been reading on his screen, but not before Clint had read the name that was written there. “I’m putting bear traps in the vents.”

“You think that would stop me?”

“I think it would send the right message. What do you want, Barton?”

Clint put his hands up in mock surrender. “It’s not important.”

He went to pull himself back into the ceiling vent when Tony snorted in annoyance. “You’re here now. What do you need?”

“Um…” So sneaking in had been the wrong way to do this. Clint had thought nothing of it when the idea occurred to him, but now that he was actually here, he realised how personal of an ask this was.

“Spit it out, Barton, I was working.”

“Fine.” Clint approached Tony’s work station and held out his hand. Tony looked at what Clint was holding, and softened slightly.

“What’s wrong with them?”

“They keep picking up this weird interference…it’s not urgent. I can get by without if you’re busy.” But Tony was already taking the hearing aids from Clint’s hand to examine them.

“When did this start?” he asked, being sure to face Clint so the archer could read his lips.

“This afternoon. I would usually just take them to S.H.I.E.L.D., but Nat and I have a field mission tomorrow. _Early_ tomorrow.”

“Come back before you go. I’ll have them ready.”

“Thanks, Tony.”

“Use the _door_ on your way out, Barton.”

Clint had his hand on the doorknob when he turned back. “Who’s Tiberius Stone?”

The moment he asked, he wished he hadn’t. Tony’s posture went rigid, like a startled cat with its fur on end. He didn’t meet Clint’s eyes as he said, “Old classmate from MIT. Bought some shares in Stark Industries.”

“Ok. Goodnight.”

Clint left via the door, almost wishing he’d never visited the workshop in the first place. 

***

When Clint came back to the workshop, it was clear Tony hadn’t slept. He was almost glad for the lack of hearing aids - he could _feel_ the vibrations of Tony’s music in the floorboards.

He entered by the door this time, making his footsteps a little heavier than usual to be sure the engineer knew he was coming.

Tony saw Clint and spun across the room in a swivel chair. “Turn it down, J.A.R.V.I.S.,” he said as he dropped two bullet-like devices into Clint’s open palm.

Clint frowned at them. “What are these?”

“Put them in.”

Carefully, Clint inserted in them into his ears. “Ok, they seem to work…woah. _Woah_.”

Tony grinned at him. “ Say ‘Thank you, Tony’.”

Usually, Clint would have rolled his eyes at him, but he was too busy taking things in he didn’t even know you could hear - the gurgling of pipes somewhere in the tower, the ticking of Tony’s expensive watch, the _base_ in the Black Sabbath still playing in the background. “Ok, real talk - are these enhanced hearing aids or is this just what everybody else can hear _all the time?_ ”

Tony ducked his head, uncomfortable. “Just regular, I think. There are tracking devices in them in case they get misplaced, like a “find my phone” ping. And the way they sit in your ear shouldn’t affect the comms. Although I could build a second pair with comms built-in…”

“Tony, these are…thank you.”

Tony didn’t meet his eyes, waving the compliment off. “It was nothing. Literally - to me, that is nothing. I whipped them up in a few hours. No sweat.”

Clint recognised the dismissal and let himself out, leaving the genius to his work. At the top of the stairs, he almost ran into Rhodey, who was hurrying the other way. “Sorry,” Rhodey mumbled, then realised who he had almost run into, taking in Clint’s black and maroon attire. “Clint. Avengers assignment?”

“S.H.I.E.L.D. - just me and Nat. Short one, hopefully.”

Rhodey looked back at where Clint had come from. “Were you in Tony’s workshop?” When Clint said he was, Rhodey added, “When was the last time he slept?”

“I would say a while ago,” Clint said, and Rhodey sighed. Clint didn’t know Rhodey that well, but from what he had seen of him, Clint had a great respect for the colonel - for many reasons, but mostly because of the way he was with Tony. Clint didn’t know much about their relationship except that they had attended MIT together, and the two were clearly close. He recognised that kind of camaraderie - he was lucky enough to have it with Natasha.

“Thanks,” Rhodey said, already on his way to the workshop, no doubt to drag Tony to bed. “Good luck with the mission.”

“Thanks. Rhodey?”

The Colonel stopped in his tracks, looking back with an eyebrow raised.

“Who’s Tiberius Stone?”

And there it was again - the same flair of disbelief and panic he had seen in Tony. Not just an old classmate from MIT then. “Why are you asking?” Rhodey asked cautiously.

“Tony said someone called Tiberius Stone had bought stocks in Stark Industries? He seemed…” Clint searched for the right words. “Stressed about it.”

“Yeah.” Rhodey exhaled slowly, then clasped Clint’s arm. “Thanks for telling me. Seriously.”

“Sure.”

Clint didn’t think too much about it until he returned from the mission three days later, and was crawling through the ceiling vents to sneak up on Steve in the gym when he heard Rhodey and Tony having a quiet conversation in the Avengers’ shared kitchen.

“I can’t do _anything_ , Rhodey.”

Clint paused. Tony’s voice sounded raw and desperate. This sounded private - _very_ private. Clint started to push on when Rhodey replied. “What do you mean? Stone can’t just buy his way into your company.”

Stone? Like Tiberius Stone?

“Apparently he can. He did. All the paperwork is signed. It’s done.”

“Surely Pepper can-”

“Pepper is the one that signed the shares over to him. She didn’t know.”

“Tony-”

“What am I meant to say?”

“The truth?”

“I can’t.”

Clint gave up all pretence of leaving. If Tony Stark was lying about something the extent he wouldn’t even tell Pepper…Clint wanted to know what that was.

He wanted to trust Tony. He wanted to believe that anyone on his team had his back, no matter what. And while he was sure that Tony would always be watching his six on the battlefield, he wasn’t one hundred per cent sure about behind the scenes. Not that he thought Tony would ever do anything intentionally to hurt his fellow teammates, but he might just be the kind of man who thought he could handle a larger threat on his own…until he couldn’t.

“She wouldn’t judge you.”

“How do you even have that conversation?”

“I could be there?”

“Thank you.” Clint was caught off guard by the sincerity in Tony’s voice. “Rhodey, really. If it hadn’t been for you, everything with Stone could have gone so much worse. Would have gone worse.”

“Tones…you shouldn’t have to deal with him. You shouldn’t even have to speak with him. Ever.”

“I already did.”

“On your own?” Rhodey’s voice was filled with outrage. “When?”

“Over the phone. He called. Wanted to fill me in himself.”

“He bought shares in the company. The company is Pepper’s domain now.”

“No.” Tony was adamant. “I’m not passing him off to Pepper. She’s not dealing with him.”

“She’ll have to - he’s on the board.”

“Then as little as possible. She’s not to be alone with him ever - at least not without Happy around.”

“Ok. We’ll keep him from Pepper. Now can we please figure out how to keep him from you?”

Clint heard Tony’s low sigh. “This isn’t your job anymore, Rhodey. I’m not a teenager.”

“It was never my _job,_ Tones.”

“You know what I mean.”

“Look…” Rhodey seemed to be searching for the right words. “You’re right. You’re a not teenager. _You’re freaking_ _Iron Man_. And an Avenger. Stone would be insane to try anything. Honestly, I think he went after your company because that’s the last thing of yours he can touch. Money, shares, stocks - he understands those things. But he can’t get near _you_. Ok?”

“It’s just…” Tony’s voice broke. “When he’s around, even hearing his voice on the phone…it’s like I’m some helpless fifteen year old at MIT again. It doesn’t matter - everything I’ve done, all the bad guys I’ve taken out…none of that seems to matter. It’s as if didn’t happen.”

“But it did _,_ ” Rhodey reassured his friend. “Tony - you’ve fought terrorists and aliens and a _god._ You know that. Stone knows that. And we’ll find a way out. His place in the company…”

“Don’t say it.”

“Isn’t set in _stone._ ”

Tony groaned loudly. “You were doing do well. I particularly liked it when you were reminding me about all my glorious victories.”

“And yet you still don’t wash your mugs.”

“I do! Pepper makes me.”

“Oh so you’ll do it for Pepper but not for me?”

“You don’t look as good in high heels.”

The banter continued, eventually turning to lighter topics, mostly recounting their days at MIT. Hearing all he had needed to, Clint made his way through the ceiling vents to his quarters, where he pulled out his phone and ran a search on everything he could find on Tiberius Stone. 


	2. Chapter 2

“Clint?”

Clint had heard Rhodey coming from down the hallway. He was still marvelling at the hearing aids Tony had made for him, how crisp and clear every sound was with them in.

He was in the gym when Rhodey found him. After checking he was alone, Rhodey asked, “Am I interrupting?”

“Yeah, but it sounds important.”

Clint grabbed a bottle of water and a towel and indicated for Rhodey to come in. Rhodey got right to the chase. “It’s about Tony.”

“Ok.”

“I need to go away for a while - a decent while. Not sure how long, but it could be weeks, maybe longer.”

“Where to?”

“That’s classified.”  


“Fair enough. Is this about Tiberius Stone?”

Rhodey eyed him. “What do you know about him?”

“Only what the internet told me. Got kicked out of MIT before he graduated, fell off the map for a few years, returned from Europe some kind of media mogul.” Clint hesitated before he added. “And he’s just bought a lot of shares in Stark Industries.”

“Yeah. That’s about right.”

“What do you need, Colonel?”

“Just…can you keep an eye on Tony while I’m gone?” 

Clint cocked his head to one side. “Why? What’s he up to?”

“It’s not like that.”

“Then what is it like?”

Rhodey checked for the umpteenth time that they were alone in the gym. “Stone is…tricky. Buying out that much of Stark Industries? That’s not business - that’s personal. He’s trying to get close to Tony again.”

Clint clocked the ‘again’ but instead said, “What’s he after? Weapons?”

“Not exactly. Look, I’m just asking you keep an ear to the ground, and if you hear that Stone is anywhere near Tony…well, actually, if you can - stop that from happening.”

“He lives in a tower full of superheroes. I’m sure he’ll be fine.”

“And…” Rhodey looked Clint in the eye. “If you could not tell the others why you’re doing this. I’m only coming to you because you knew something about it already.”

Clint locked and unlocked his fingers. “No.”

“ _No?_ ”

“I’m not lying to my team, Rhodes. Not unless you can give me a damn good reason why. Especially when it comes to Stark.” He raised his hands in defence as he saw Rhodey about to protest. “It’s not that I don’t trust him, or think he would hurt any of us - not intentionally. But he has a past. And if that past catches up with him here, while he’s one of the team, I need to know about it. They need to know about it.”

“I get where you’re coming from, Clint, I do.” Rhodey considered for a long moment. “So I’m going to tell you why I want to keep Stone as far away from Tony as possible. But you can’t tell anyone else - and you can’t tell Tony I told you. And I think once you know, you’ll understand why.”

So Rhodey told him everything. 

***

Tiberius Stone wasn’t hard to find. Clint had kept his end of the bargain with Rhodey, keeping tabs on Tony, without telling him or the team why. Rhodey was right - they didn’t need to know, not about this. 

Clint had started making more excuses to drop by Tony’s workshop, at first bringing ideas for new arrow designs and field gadgets, but after a few visits the chats turned more casual - about music, cars, and old girlfriends (Tony had a lot of those). Tony would always make a show of being annoyed at Clint’s presence, especially when he took the ceiling vent route, but he no longer shooed Clint out of the workshop the moment he could. 

It was a week after Rhodey had left for his classified mission, and Clint was swinging by Tony’s lab, when what he saw inside made him pause. Tony was leaning over his desk, head in his hands.

A week ago, Clint would have walked away and let Tony have his privacy. Now, he gently knocked on the door and entered.

Tony’s head flew up at the knock, quickly rearranging his features into his usual expression of annoyance at being interrupted. “You’re announcing your presence now? Did Cap finally knock some manners in you, Barton?”

“Never.” Clint hovered at the doorway. “Is everything ok?”

“Always,” Tony replied smoothly. “Did you want something?” 

“Um…” Clint could just get a glimpse of the screen behind Tony. Noting the information there, he continued. “Nat and I and probably the others are going to watch a movie. Do you want to join us?”

Tony blinked at him, taken aback. “I didn’t realise you and Romanoff were capable of doing anything that wasn’t a government classified activity.” He hesitated, then asked, “What are you watching?”

“We’re trying to get Cap caught up on the classics. We’re up to the eighties. Maybe Alien?”

Tony sighed and got to his feet, like Clint had inconvenienced him by asking. “Fine. But only because I want to see Cap turn pink when Sigourney Weaver’s in her underwear.”

Clint held the door for him on the way out. The screens in the lab all turned off as Tony left, but Clint had already seen what he needed to.

_Tiberius Stone. Stark Industries. 12pm tomorrow._

***

Clint arrived at 11:50.

Even if he hadn’t know about Stone and Tony’s history, Clint would have hated Tiberius Stone on sight. The man had ridiculous golden hair that brushed against the shoulders of his expensive suit. He was leaning back in a chair in one of SI’s meeting rooms, his feet propped up on the table as talked too loudly to someone in a bluetooth earpiece.

Clint didn’t waste anytime. He entered the meeting room, causing Tiberius to stare at him indignantly as Clint drew the blinds, making sure no one could see in.

“Get out,” Stone snapped at him. “This is a private room.”

“Which hand do you write with?”

“Excuse me?”

Clint turned to him and Stone’s eyes widened as he finally cottoned on to who was in the room with him.

Clint hadn’t been subtle. He’d gone for the full look - black and maroon, the bow and arrows slung across his back. He wouldn’t need them, knew the full suit-up was unnecessary for the conversation he and Stone were going to have, but he wanted Stone to know exactly who was threatening him. Not just Clint Barton - Hawkeye. He wanted Stone to realise that messing with Tony was messing with the Avengers now. 

Seeing the satisfying look of fear in Stone’s eyes, Clint didn’t regret the choice for a second.

“Which hand do you write with?” Clint repeated.

“Left,” Stone stammered. “Why-”

Then Clint was across the room, grabbing Stone’s right arm and twisting it behind his back, making the media mogul yell in indignation and fear.

“These rooms are soundproofed. No one is going to hear you.”

“I will _sue_ you-”

Clint let out bark of laughter. “Yeah good luck with that.” Keeping his grip on Stone’s arm, he pulled out a sheaf of documents and a pen and slammed them down on the desk in front of Stone. “These documents relinquish all shares you own in Stark Industries. It also bans you from buying more - ever. Sign them.”

“Do you know who I am?”

Clint twisted Stone’s arm back further and the blonde man yelped in pain. “I know exactly who you are, Stone. And this is me passing on a friendly message from all of us at Avengers Tower - _leave Tony alone._ That goes for Tony, for Pepper, and for Stark Industries. Now sign the papers.”

The pain in his arm stopped Stone from protesting further. The moment the papers were signed, Clint shoved the man away from him, gathering the documents back into his bag. Stone was staring him down with eyes full of rage.

“You will pay for this.”

Clint gave him a jaunty smile. “I doubt that. I’m glad we saw eye-to-eye so fast. I hate it when these business meetings drag on, don’t you? Now get out before Tony gets here, and that arm stays unbroken.”

Clint watched with no small satisfaction as Stone scurried from the room, tripping overchair in his haste. He made himself scarce soon after, sighing with relief. It was over. Stone was dealt with.

He couldn’t have been more wrong.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is for today - but will be updated soon! 
> 
> Who am I going to do tomorrow? I don't know. Thoughts?

**Author's Note:**

> NOTE: This fic/series is currently on hiatus while I work on the [Whumptoberverse](https://archiveofourown.org/works/26438419). You can find the Clint & Tony fic from that series [here](https://archiveofourown.org/works/27147191/chapters/66296045) .
> 
> So hey, I have this film and screenwriting podcast? It's called "Kill the Cat" and once a month my co-host and I and break down one of our favourite movies or tv shows and look at why they work, including Harry Potter, The Princess Bride, Brooklyn Nine-Nine and, of course, the MCU.
> 
> You can check it out on [YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Ypaen3yM5Q&t=1s&ab_channel=KilltheCatPodcast), [Spotify](https://open.spotify.com/show/5hCprc9UCBZP4srFrBXKT1?si=ZOqdhMlVQvqV2fG5PxuvOA), or anywhere you listen to podcasts. 
> 
> And hey. You're doing great.


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